U.S. jobless rate at 4-year high
WASHINGTON -- U.S. payrolls shrank by more than seven times as much as economists expected in July, pushing the unemployment rate to a four-year high of 4.9 percent as manufacturers continued to cut jobs.

Qwest Communications plans to cut 4,000 jobs
DENVER -- Qwest Communications International announced Monday it plans to cut 4,000 jobs, or 6 percent of its work force. The Denver-based telecommunications company also said the nation's economic slowdown would mean lower-than-expected sales and earnings through at least the first half of 2002.

Michelin cutting its work force by 2,000
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Michelin North America Inc. is cutting 2,000 jobs, or about 7 percent of its work force, citing a downturn in tire markets and the need to increase its long-term competitiveness.

Cut in Social Security payroll tax suggested.
WASHINGTON -- The Senate's top Republican suggested Monday that Congress consider coupling a reduction in the Social Security payroll tax with a cut in capital gains taxes to give the struggling economy a fresh infusion of cash

International
Headlines
Island Video from Anastasia Plaza shut its doors for the last time on Aug. 31, and the owners have thrown in the towel for the time being.

Money talk: Answering your money questions
Q: My wife is 30 and I am 34. We have decent jobs, and our combined income is about $125,000 a year. We have been living well below our means, and have enough money to completely pay off our mortgage. Many advisers have told us not to do i

Flagler students react to crisis
Flagler College student Janine Pfalzgraf sat stunned Tuesday afternoon, a reaction expressed by many students that joined her watching a campus television as word of the terrorism strikes unfolded before them.

Students moved by reports of tragedy
Tears streamed down Ashleigh Smith's face as she stood with Sara Davis and Labri Langston on the steps of the Flagler College library two hours following the alleged terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Taylor to pen one gem of a book
NEW YORK (AP) -- Now you can learn more about what makes Dame Elizabeth Taylor glitter. The Academy Award-winning actress is writing a book about her private jewelry collection, considered among the world's most valuable.

How do I explain this to my children?
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Cordelia Anderson, a violence prevention teacher from Minneapolis, had to calm her 9-year-old son Tuesday morning. She was scheduled to go to Washington, D.C., on a business trip the next day and her son was worried.

Number of obese Americans still growing
CHICAGO -- Nearly 40 million American adults are obese, new figures show, continuing a decade-long climb in numbers despite efforts by health officials to encourage a sensible diet and plenty of exercise.

Passenger reported hijacking in cell phone call
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. -- A United Airlines jetliner carrying 45 people crashed into a grassy field on Tuesday morning, minutes after a man who said he was a passenger told an emergency dispatcher in a cell phone call: ''We are being hijacked, we are being hijacked!''

Nation in shock following devastating attack
The nation reeled in horror and security measures spun into effect as the work day began with a series of plane crashes that tore through the World Trade Center and sent smoke billowing from the Pentagon.

Chaotic scene unfolds on national television
NEW YORK -- Television became a national gathering place on a terror-filled Tuesday, replaying unimaginable scenes of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center and its skyscrapers collapsing. Newspapers rushed out special editions. Many headlines said simply: ''TERROR.''

Death toll is unknown; will be high
NEW YORK -- In the most devastating terrorist onslaught ever waged against the United States, knife-wielding hijackers crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center on Tuesday, toppling its twin 110-story towers. The deadly calamity was witnessed on televisions across the world as another plane slammed into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed outside Pittsburgh.

Rumsfeld: 'Pentagon will be in business'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Inside the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had just raced to his office after hearing of the World Trade Center attack. On a house porch a little more than a mile away, Ralph Banton, 79, was enjoying a crystal-clear morning.

Terror in America
WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials began piecing together a case linking Osama bin Laden to the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, aided by an intercept of communications between his supporters and harrowing cell phone calls from victims aboard the jetliners before they crashed on Tuesday.

Massachusetts voters select congressional candidates
BOSTON (AP) -- On a day overshadowed by the bedlam of deadly terrorist attacks, a Democrat from a blue-collar neighborhood and a veteran Republican state lawmaker easily won congressional primaries in the battle to replace the late Rep. Joe Moakley.

Former St. Augustine resident witnesses the horror
On the phone, Sonny Sharma's voice sounds worn with exhaustion. He hasn't slept since Monday night because every time he closes his eyes, all that appears are visions of people leaping off the World Trade Center's buildings as flames shoot through the metal frames.

Depression off Florida getting organized
MIAMI -- A tropical depression meandering in the Gulf of Mexico became better organized Wednesday, and hurricane forecasters advised people along the eastern gulf coast and in Florida to keep an eye on it.

Police Beat
A man struck a woman in the mouth and threatened to slice her with a machete at a home in the first block of Lovett Street on Sept. 4 after 9 p.m., the police reported. Walter Warthaw Jr., 54, was arrested on charges of domestic battery and aggravated assault, the police said.

Public meetings Wednesday
The St. Johns County School Board and Board of County Commissioners will meet at 6 p.m. tonight on redistricting for the next 10 years.

Woman indicted on murder charge
After three months in the St. Johns County jail for lesser charges, Celeste May Fox, 36, 4735 Avenue C, has been indicted by a grand jury on a first degree murder charge.

Redistricting plan closer to consensus
Closer and closer. St. Johns County School Board and County Commission members discarded many plans and changes before deciding Wednesday night they finally had hammered out one they can support.

Terrorism experts split on cause of attack
The group which organized and carried out the deadly attacks Tuesday in New York and Washington has not yet accepted responsibility for its bold, well-coordinated and suicidal plan.

Train stopped in Providence; one man arrested
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A man allegedly carrying a knife aboard an Amtrak train was arrested Wednesday, but authorities said he had no apparent connection to this week's terrorist attacks.

Reaction to terrorist attack
Although he was not in the meeting, Ed O'Sullivan of St. Augustine was shocked by the events. O'Sullivan used to be the restaurant manager for the 43rd and 44th floors of One World Trade Center. He was working for the New York Port Authority at the time of the construction of the building.

Locals in New York witness tragedy as it unfolds
Firefighter Pete Weiland lowers an American flag downtown Tuesday as a symbol of the community's mourning for the lives lost in the recent terrorist attacks across the country. St. Augustine resident Kevin Williams, who was waiting tables at a restaurant almost directly across the Hudson River from New York City, was an eyewitness to yesterday's tragic aerial bombing of two of the World Trade Center buildings.

Area's lawmakers react to tragedy
Shortly after a terrorist-driven plane crashed into the Pentagon -- killing hundreds of people -- the federal and state governments across the nation sprung into action.

Opinion: Bloody day, but fight is just starting
Embers still glow in the ashes of our four crashed airliners and the Pentagon. Thousands of wounded, burned and maimed Americans suffer in emergency rooms. Our many dead, however, say nothing.

Youth Basketball Registration
The St. Johns County Recreation Department will be holding registration for the boys' and girls' youth (9-14) basketball leagues Sept. 24-Oct. 31. All new and returning players must bring a copy of their birth certificate to registration.

Darius sidelined
JACKSONVILLE Jacksonville Jaguars safety Donovin Darius is out indefinitely with a broken left hip.

Bears, Jackets ready for district test
While St. Augustine and Bartram Trail High Schools' football teams continue to prepare for Friday night's critical district match up at St. Augustine, the first between the schools, the players and coaches continue to have heavy hearts after Tuesday's catastrophic terrorist attack against the United States.

Saints on a roll
The team is off to its best start in years. It has depth. An imposing front line, and a chance to have the best season in school history.

Falcons sweep Jackets
The Menendez High School volleyball team fell behind early, but rallied to sweep the visiting St. Augustine Yellow Jackets Tuesday night 15-12, 15-2 in a critical district matchup.

Braves driven to succeed again
ATLANTA The mood in the Atlanta Braves' clubhouse at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Sunday morning was more typical of what you would find in March than in September. A couple of card games were going on. Some players worked on crossword puzzles, while others watched NFL pregame shows on television.

Local sports briefs
The St. Augustine Saints Pop Warner football team defeated the Bel Med Packers 18-6. The Saints were led by quarterback Bryon Rizzi who totalled 354 yards of total offense. Rizzi also scored two touchdowns. The Saints improved to 2-0 on the year.

Internet proves crucial communications tool
NEW YORK -- The Internet proved its value as a virtual balm for a global crisis Wednesday as friends, families and even strangers collected online for soul-searching and emotional support.

Train stopped in Providence
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- A man allegedly carrying a knife aboard an Amtrak train was arrested Wednesday, but authorities said he had no apparent connection to this week's terrorist attacks.

Former St. Augustine resident witnesses the horror
On the phone, Sonny Sharma's voice sounds worn with exhaustion. He hasn't slept since Monday night because every time he closes his eyes, all that appears are visions of people leaping off the World Trade Center's buildings as flames shoot through the metal frames.

Prayer, tears in local churches
It may have been only fitting that a slight drizzle greeted parishoners as they arrived for a late afternoon memorial service at Trinity Episcopal Parish.

Troops patrolling Washington as federal government reopens
WASHINGTON -- With National Guard troops patrolling the streets and the Pentagon still smoldering, the government reopened Wednesday as federal workers returned to their jobs and Congress reconvened. But it was not exactly business as usual.

Chaotic scene unfolds on national television
NEW YORK -- Television became a national gathering place on a terror-filled Tuesday, replaying unimaginable scenes of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center and its skyscrapers collapsing. Newspapers rushed out special editions. Many headlines said simply: ''TERROR.''

Internet proves crucial communications tool
NEW YORK -- The Internet proved its value as a virtual balm for a global crisis Wednesday as friends, families and even strangers collected online for soul-searching and emotional support.

Aircraft crashes near Pentagon
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An aircraft crashed into the Pentagon Tuesday, and major government buildings from the Capitol to White House were evacuated after bomb threats.

Closings around the nation
Some of the closures and evacuations nationwide Wednesday in response to terrorist attacks in New York and Washington:

Quotes, reaction
Although he was not in the county commission meeting, Ed O'Sullivan of St. Augustine was shocked by the events. O'Sullivan used to be the restaurant manager for the 43rd and 44th floors of One World Trade Center. He was working for the New York Port Authority at the time of the construction of the building.

Reaction to terrorist attack
Although he was not in the meeting, Ed O'Sullivan of St. Augustine was shocked by the events. O'Sullivan used to be the restaurant manager for the 43rd and 44th floors of One World Trade Center. He was working for the New York Port Authority at the time of the construction of the building.

'You might ask why God would allow someone to do this'
While citizens across the nation are in a state of disbelief, and people around the world awakened to the news of the apparent terrorist attack on the United States, a street minister from Jacksonville stood in front of the Proctor Library at Flagler College.

Blood donors pack center
As soon as the news broke about the terrorists attacks, St. Johns County residents responded with compassion.

White House was target
WASHINGTON -- The White House and Air Force One, two potent symbols of the American presidency, were targets of Tuesday's suicide bombers, government officials said.

Anger, despair among veterans
The mood inside the American Legion Post No. 37 was one of anger and despair as a handful veterans watched the events of this morning slowly unravel.

Aftermath of attacks impact economy
NEW YORK -- A stock trade isn't made and a commission isn't earned because the markets are closed. A bond isn't sold because a rating agency's computers don't work. A shipment doesn't move because flights aren't operating on schedule.

Pilots suspect hijackers killed crews
MIAMI -- Pilots have tools for a hijacking -- subtle code words, special radio signals to the tower, unusual ways to position an airplane on a runway that indicate something's wrong.

Locals in New York witness tragedy as it unfolds
Firefighter Pete Weiland lowers an American flag downtown Tuesday as a symbol of the community's mourning for the lives lost in the recent terrorist attacks across the country. St. Augustine resident Kevin Williams, who was waiting tables at a restaurant almost directly across the Hudson River from New York City, was an eyewitness to yesterday's tragic aerial bombing of two of the World Trade Center buildings.

The world watches America's agony in awe and dismay
BEIJING (AP) -- She watched, in the dead of night, and Ji Jianhua couldn't reconcile the TV images with those in her mind. Five years ago, she had been there -- 8,000 miles from Beijing and her home, right there atop one of Manhattan's gleaming towers of commerce.

Blood donors pack center
As soon as the news broke about the terrorists attacks, St. Johns County residents responded with compassion.

Area's lawmakers react to tragedy
Shortly after a terrorist-driven plane crashed into the Pentagon -- killing hundreds of people -- the federal and state governments across the nation sprung into action.

Death toll is unknown; will be high
NEW YORK -- In the most devastating terrorist onslaught ever waged against the United States, knife-wielding hijackers crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center on Tuesday, toppling its twin 110-story towers. The deadly calamity was witnessed on televisions across the world as another plane slammed into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed outside Pittsburgh.

Palestinians rejoice
LONDON -- People around the world watched in horror as images of terror in the United States filled their television screens Tuesday. On the West Bank, Palestinians celebrated but most world leaders expressed solidarity with an America that looked more vulnerable than ever.

State Department evacuated
WASHINGTON -- The State Department was evacuated Tuesday due to a possible explosion or fire amid a rash of explosions in New York and Washington.

Nation in shock following devastating attack
The nation reeled in horror and security measures spun into effect as the work day began with a series of plane crashes that tore through the World Trade Center and sent smoke billowing from the Pentagon.

Flagler students react to crisis
Flagler College student Janine Pfalzgraf sat stunned Tuesday afternoon, a reaction expressed by many students that joined her watching a campus television as word of the terrorism strikes unfolded before them.

Rumsfeld: 'Pentagon will be in business'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Inside the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had just raced to his office after hearing of the World Trade Center attack. On a house porch a little more than a mile away, Ralph Banton, 79, was enjoying a crystal-clear morning.

White House evacuated
WASHINGTON -- The White House was evacuated Tuesday after the Secret Service received credible threat of a terrorist act against the presidential mansion and residence, The Associated Press has learned.

Israel targets Islamic militants
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Intensifying its hunt for Palestinian militants, Israel raided a West Bank town and two nearby villages on Wednesday, killing seven Palestinians, including three suspected Islamic militants and an 11-year-old girl.

President orders investigation
Planes were grounded across the country by the Federal Aviation Administration. All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were closed down.

Devastating, unspeakable carnage
NEW YORK -- As the smoldering ashes of the World Trade Center slowly yielded unimaginable carnage, investigators fanned out across the country Wednesday to track the conspirators who orchestrated an unprecedented day of terror from the air.

Hopes dim for more Pentagon survivors
WASHINGTON -- More than 24 hours after a hijacked airliner hit the Pentagon, a fire that tore at the Defense Department headquarters was finally put out. Hopes of finding more survivors in the rubble were all but extinguished, too.

President says nation will recover from 'acts of war'
WASHINGTON -- President Bush condemned terrorist attacks in New York and Washington as ''acts of war'' on Wednesday and won pledges of funding from Congress to aid in recovery and protect the nation's security. European allies gave their backing to an anticipated military response.

At ground zero, scene is horrific
NEW YORK -- The spot where the World Trade Center once stood was an otherworldly place Wednesday, a hazy landscape of gray dust, splayed girders, paper and boulders of broken concrete.

Air traffic halted after terrorist attack, travelers stranded
CHICAGO (AP) -- Air traffic around the nation was halted Tuesday for the first time in history as stunned travelers watched televised pictures of the smoking wreckage of New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, both attacked by terrorists.

Quotes, reactions
Tuesday's terrorism attack will be the focus of Flagler College's Student Government Association at 8 tonight in the campus dining hall.

Plane crashes into Pentagon
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon took a direct, devastating hit from an aircraft and the enduring symbols of American power were evacuated Tuesday as an apparent terrorist attack quickly spread fear and chaos in the nation's capital.

U.S. Military on Highest Alert
WASHINGTON (AP) Aircraft carriers and guided missile destroyers moved into the waters near New York and Washington after President Bush placed the U.S. military on its highest alert status in response to deadly terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.

Opinion: Bloody day, but fight is just starting
Embers still glow in the ashes of our four crashed airliners and the Pentagon. Thousands of wounded, burned and maimed Americans suffer in emergency rooms. Our many dead, however, say nothing.

1993 attack killed six, wounded more than 1,000
NEW YORK -- In 1993, a bombing at the World Trade Center killed six people and wounded more than 1,000. Six Islamic militants were convicted in the bombing, and sentenced to life behind bars.

A National Tragedy
Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above the gaping holes in the side of the twin towers, one of New York City's most famous landmarks, and debris rained down upon the street, one of the city's busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower.

United jetliner crashes in western Pennsylvania
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- A United Airlines jetliner carrying 45 people crashed into a grassy field on Tuesday morning, minutes after a man who said he was a passenger told an emergency dispatcher in a cell phone call: "We are being hijacked, we are being hijacked!"

Shock sweeps St. Augustine
In the wake of this morning's terrorist attacks, people in St. Augustine wavered between furious disbelief, silent shock and anti-violent worry.

Military tightens security after terrorist attacks
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- The Navy dispatched aircraft carriers and guided missile destroyers to New York and Washington after Tuesday's terrorist attacks as the president put the military on its highest level of alert.

WORLD TRADE CENTER, PENTAGON HIT BY AIRLINERS
NEW YORK -- In a horrific sequence of destruction, terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center and the twin 110-story towers collapsed Tuesday morning. Explosions also rocked the Pentagon and the State Department and spread fear across the nation.

Bush says nation will fight back, recover from 'acts of war'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush condemned terrorist attacks in New York and Washington as "acts of war" on Wednesday and won pledges of funding from Congress to aid in recovery and protect the nation's security. European allies gave their backing to an anticipated military response.

Terror in America
WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials began piecing together a case linking Osama bin Laden to the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, aided by an intercept of communications between his supporters and harrowing cell phone calls from victims aboard the jetliners before they crashed on Tuesday.

Powell seeks coordinated international response
WASHINGTON -- Starting before dawn Wednesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned world leaders in search of support for a coordinated response to the "assault against the civilized world" waged by terrorists at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Witness: 'It was a war zone'
Sean Gallagher of Rutherford, N.J., had just dropped his 8-year-old daughter at a school two blocks from the World Trade Center Tuesday morning when he saw something he will never forget, no matter how hard he tries.

Day of horror
The nation reeled in horror and security measures spun into effect as the work day began with a series of plane crashes that tore through the World Trade Center and sent smoke billowing from the Pentagon.

Explosions knock out some phone service
NEW YORK (AP) -- Many people reached for their phones after the attack on the World Trade Center towers to see if loved ones or colleagues were safe. But most calls wouldn't go through.

Terrorists may have used own pilots
WASHINGTON -- The terrorists who crashed planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center probably were able to overcome the flight crews and then fly the airliners themselves, aviation safety experts suggested.

A peace that was deceptive
With the twin towers crumbled in New York, the Pentagon burning, a jetliner down in Pennsylvania, a morning's cruel work ended the nation's normalcy.

Coral reefs vanishing reefs
HONG KONG -- Blasted by dynamite, contaminated with poisons and smothered by pollution, coral reefs are dying faster than previously thought, according to a study published Tuesday by the United Nations.

Palestinians rejoice
LONDON -- People around the world watched in horror as images of terror in the United States filled their television screens Tuesday. On the West Bank, Palestinians celebrated but most world leaders expressed solidarity with an America that looked more vulnerable than ever.

Israeli troops surround West Bank town
JENIN, West Bank -- Israeli tanks encircled this West Bank town early Tuesday in an open-ended foray into Palestinian territory that came in response to a string of attacks by Palestinian militants. Amid the rising tensions, high-level truce talks were postponed once more.